Magi

The Magi are a species created by the Sha'rek'ta to serve the Black Gates. They survived beyond their creators, but ultimately nearly fell to the same hubris. When the gods returned to the world and the Black Gates were all but destroyed the magi struck a deal with the gods and left this world for the universe beyond.

The Magi were a species created by the Sha'rek'ta during the height of their power during the Age of the Ancients. The Well of Life had long since been poisoned, but the Sha'rek'ta had constructed great machines that came to be known has the Black Gates. They did not create life, but instead gave true sapience to existing higher order of lives - each to serve a purpose.

The purpose of the Magi was to care for the Black Gates. They were given the ability to link themselves directly into the ley lines of the Shadow Realms that flow over the world. They would use this ability to repair and maintain the gates - in time it also gave them great insight into not only this world, but the myriad of worlds that existed beyond this one connected together by flows of the Shadow Realms.

Although the power of the Black Gates is enormous, it is not infinite. In time the sha'rek'ta grew jealous of each other and the amount of power others drew from the gates for their own purposes. The world have begun to destabilize and the sha'rek'ta required ever more power from the gates to maintain their own lives. This fear grew to hatred, which eventually led to war.

For over fifteen thousand (15,000) years the sha'rek'ta indirectly warred among themselves using their creations in enormous battles. The magi, unsettled by the war, closed off the gates to their own creators. Denied access to nearly limitless power, the war among the sha'rek'ta became desperate and they turned on each other to maintain their own power.

In the end only a single sha'rek'ta survived on the world; although at least of score fled this world for other worlds across the universe. The magi caged the last of their creators so that no more harm could come to this world.

The magi could not live outside of the Black Gates or the ley lines, so they opened the gates fully and the power of the shadow realms flooded the world. The stability of the world was thrown into chaos as nearly unlimited power changed nearly everything. Creatures that could never existed walked the earth, flew through the skies, and swam in the oceans. Immense creatures that lived not on eating smaller creatures, but the power of the shadows realms itself.

The consequences of their actions threw the world into chaos that would have destroyed the prison that held the heart of Mir except for the intervention by the Earthmother. She awoke the Great Dragons, the Children of Mir, and set them loose upon the magi. The dragons rose in a frenzy and descended on those filled with the power of their mother. The magi, angered at the interference, gathered a vast army and warred with the dragons.

Like their own creators, the magi would have destroyed the world in order to maintain their own power except that a small number of them foresaw their demise. These magi stood aside from their brethren and allowed the dragons to destroy the black gates. With most of the gates destroyed the power of the shadow realms was greatly diminished - forcing the magi back from the world.

As the world slowly healed, the magi that stood aside reconciled with those who continued to war to the bitter end. As one they approached the Earthmother and struck a bargain. They would leave this world if the gods would give them the power to travel from this world to other lands where the power of the shadow realms touched. The gods granted them this boon, so the magi left the world of Miranda.

As part of this promise the magi created three beings upon this world, the ged-zari, brund, and human to serve as their legacy. The gods would oversee the survival of this children so that the seed of the sha'rek'ta would never pass from this world.

To see that the gods maintained their bargain, a single magi stayed behind on the world. He spends most of his time living among the ruins of the black gates, sleeping with the Earthmother, or traveling the ley lines. He is forbidden from interfering with any of the beings on the world - directly or indirectly. His tasks is simply to watch over the world and see that the progeny of the sha'rek'ta live as was bargained.

The last task of the magi was to care for last of the sha'rek'ta on this world. While those who left wished to seek out their creators among the stars, the last magi on the world is responsible for caring for their caged creator. Should the world pass once more into darkness the seed of the sha'rek'ta may once again be needed.

As all things the current age will end and change will once again come to the world. The end of this age has already been set in motion although all of the actors have not yet made an appearance. The end will come when the last of the sha'rek'ta is released from her prison and free to once again roam the world. Driven mad by her imprisonment for thousands of year and flush with power she will wreck havoc upon the world - threatening to send everything back into the chaos of the last days of her kind.

All would be lost if not for the last of the magi. He has watch the various beings of the world and has begun to find those among the other beings who can be trusted with the mantle of the magi. Although they are not magi they will inherit their power and knowledge. They will be given the task to unravel what she has wrought and serve the needs of the Earthmother.

The freeing of the last sha'rek'ta breaks the compact between the gods and the magi, allowing the magi to return. They will find the world very different from when they left it, but it is unknown what actions they will take.

When the magi bargained with the gods they received two boons. The first was that one magi would stay behind on the world to watch over its progress and ensure the gods were upholding the bargain. This watcher could not interfere in the world nor the gods unless the pact was broken by the gods first. Second, the magi were allowed to leave behind their own seed upon this world. As the Sha'rek'ta created them so did they create life by giving sapience and form to a creature that already existed.

The ged-zari were created to encompass the legacy of the magi's ability to step within the flows of the Shadow Realms and nearly fully merge with it. Unlike those created by the Sha'rek'ta, including the magi themselves, the ged-zari have no physical form tied to the mortal plane. Instead they are native creatures of the Shadow Realms itself.

The ged-zari were given the vast power of the magi, but denied the ability to grant sapience or even create more of their kind. Instead, when they wish to enter a world they must inhabit the body of a sapient being - a being that already has a connection with the Shadow Realms. By occupying a being they destroy the spirit that already inhabits the body and replace it with their own.

This requires a great deal of effort from the ged-zari so they rarely leave the Shadow Realms.

The brund were created to be creatures of the world itself and so their connection to the shadow realms was severed. This gives them no ability to use magic of any sort and makes it nearly impossible for the gods or devils to gain spiritual power from them. This does not make them unintelligent, but instead simply spirit-blind to the power of the shadow realms around them.

The magi foresaw a time when the power of the shadow realms would diminish and so created the brund so that the seed of their own creators would live on. The brund have great physical strength and can quickly adapt to situations as the world changes.

The human were created in the image of the magi themselves. It maybe have been a touch arrogant, but the magi saw the humans as their own true progeny. They are beings possessing both physical and spiritual strength. This did make them vulnerable to manipulation from beings outside the world, but the magi ensured they had the intellect to learn and grow.

Within six thousand (6000) years humans have become the overwhelmingly dominant sapient species in the world. They have spread to all corners of the globe, displacing or killing those who lived their before. Their strong and active spirits have ensured the gods continued attention on them - occasionally protecting them over their own creations.